TC Student Debt Campaign

 

Details

OurTC is conducting a survey of the student debt struggle at Teachers College. The survey has two main questions:

• How much student debt do you have from Teachers College?
• If you are a student, how will this debt affect your job choice after graduation? If an alumni, how has it affected life after graduation?

The survey is anonymous. The responses will be viewed by members of OurTC, and made publicly available in several forms in the coming semesters. If you would prefer that OurTC not post your anonymous answers to our questions in any way, shape or form, please indicate so.In the short-term, OurTC will continue seeking responses to the questions.

In the long-term, the group will compose infographics, reports, and a video contrasting the student debt struggle with administrator salaries at Teachers College.In short, OurTC is trying to make the case for shared governance. The basic argument is that, if students had had a voice in financial decisions at Teachers College, they would never have chosen to indebt themselves or their peers to this extent.Share your struggle in the struggle for shared governance. Fill out the form and stay tuned for the information.Original Announcement

Please pass along this message to TC students and alumni, particularly the graduating class:

Student debt is a problem. TC students pay extremely high tuition (nearly $1400 per credit hour), which has increased by almost 1000% since 1960. Our lack of participation at the College in the financial decisions that affect us has resulted in our many hundreds and thousands of dollars of debt. If we’d had a say, the debt would never have been an option in the first place.

We want to make the case for shared governance, but we still do not know the extent of student debt at our College. So we’re conducting a survey. Please fill out the short, anonymous survey (linked above) to report how much debt you have. The information will be used to communicate the severity of student debt at TC and build an argument for shared governance. Sharing your struggle will help make the case for shared governance.

This struggle is not an isolated one. Student debt outpaced credit card debt in 2012 and last year the federal government made $41.3 billion off the backs of student debtors. Students and alumni, help restore Teachers College’s legacy of leadership, excellence, and social justice: help make the case for shared governance by sharing your struggle. To the graduating class of 2014, leave your mark on TC before you leave.

Best,
Our TC, a student movement at Teachers College
ourteacherscollege@gmail.com